South Pole Visit
by katara8882
Summary: Toph goes to visit Sokka and Katara at the South Pole.
1. Aang comes to visit

_Hey guys this story takes place say 4 years after the war. So Sokka is 19 or 20ish, Katara is 18 or 19ish, And Aang, and Toph are 16. I hope you enjoy! I know this one is short, but I promise future chapters will most definitely be longer :D_

* * *

"Pleaassee?" Aang begged Toph who stood over him. Toph sighed annoyed by his antics.

"No." She answered firmly. "No matter how many times you ask, my answer will still, and always will be NO."

"Come on Toph, Sokka and Katara both really miss you! Sokka kept asking when you were coming to visit, and he'd get all depressed when I told him I have no idea. Katara was practically in tears! Please? I know you hate balls and all, but come on! The group would be together again!" Aang said.

"No Aang. I have some very important stuff to do here." Toph said.

"Like what?"

"Like training for Earth Rumble. The boulder is getting really good now and if I don't step up, he could easily take my title." Toph answered. She was about to drill him in the ground.

"Well when is Earth Rumble?" Aang asked.

"Like a month from now."

"Well perfect! I'll take you for like say two weeks tops and when we come back here, you can train for the other two weeks." He said proudly.

"Aang, I'll be completely useless down there! I wouldn't be able to see, or fight if we got attacked. I'd feel so weak." Toph said in a small voice.

"Well, we'll all be there to help you. Sokka, Katara, and I." Aang said.

Toph considered this. "IF I decide to go, do you promise to NEVER ask me again to go to the South Pole?" She asked.

"Yes! So is that a yes?" Aang asked.

"Fine. I'll go." She answered.

"Thank you sooo much Toph! They'll really appreciate you going! I'll help you pack!" He grabbed her wrist and brought a suit case out and started throwing random clothes into her pack, like pajamas, shirts, and pants.

"Let ME do the undergarments." Toph said sternly and kicked a blushing avatar out of her room.

* * *

"Great! Your all packed? Lets head out! You just are going to have to tell your parents!" Aang said._ Parents_? Toph had completely forgotten about that.

"Wait, Aang!" Toph yelled, but it was too late as he was already next to Appa. Toph pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Spirits, save me!"


	2. Beginning of the journey

Toph sat in the saddle with her knee's pressed to her chest as she tried to focus on not being a hundred feet up in the air. She already thought of every song she could think of, every fairy tail that her parents told her about the spirits. But it wasn't helping her become less afraid of what lied ahead.

The sun was setting, and Toph shivered as the cold wind bit her nose. The silence strengthened as the time progressed. Toph was mad at Aang because, he forgot to pack her shoes before they left. So now Toph's feet were currently turning numb as the wind got colder. The sun started setting as well so it should be getting below freezing any time now.

"Aang, you remembered to bring me a blanket right?" Toph asked breaking the silence. She was getting annoyed of it.

"Yeaah...Suure...I uh, think." Aang coughed awkwardly.

"_Aang_. We're going to the South Pole. There's nothing but ice and snow! It's all read getting cold, and you didn't bring me any shoes. Now I don't have a _blanket_?!" Toph said annoyed now.

"Relax Toph! We'll be there any time now. I'm sure they'll have heavier and warmer blankets there to use anyways. Same with shoes. Besides you'll need snow boots anyways." Aang said.

"Whatever. But I'm freezing my butt off now." Toph said still annoyed.

"Well, you can come sit on appa's head if you want to. His fur should keep you warm."

Toph huffed at his solution but climbed up on Appa's head anywayys. Once she got there she grabbed on for life. As time passed, Toph gained the courage to loosen her death grip on Appa's fur. Toph moved so she was sitting on Appa's neck, and leaned back to his shoulders. It was much more comfortable than her other position.

The silence was getting now also.

"So aren't you excited at all to see them?" He asked.

"Of coarse I'm excited, I just hate the conditions. I'm terrified about going down to the north pole because I know I'll be completely blind there. If we get attacked, I could be completely vulnerable. What's worse is I wouldn't be able to help you guys," Toph said in a small voice. "Toph it's-"

"So what does sugar queen have planned for my visit?" She asked cutting Aang off. "Huh?"

"I know Katara won't let these next two weeks go by without planning a whole list of ridiculous stuff for me to do. Sokka probably would stay up all night thinking about it." Toph stated. She didn't really care what it was that they had planned, she just wanted to get her mind off of flying. Aang laughed at how accurate her description was.

"Well...uh..Katara is going to want to catch up, and Sokka, he um is just really excited to see you?" He sounded hesitant. Like he wasn't telling her everything. Her eyes narrowed. "They don't know I'm coming. Do they?" She hissed. Aang winced as Toph caught on. He feared she would. "Well uh-"

"You said they were _begging _for you to bring me." Her voice had a powerful venom in it.

"Well, they were...a few months ago." Aang said his voice getting small by the end of the sentence.

"Hold on, do they even know that_ you're _coming?" She asked.

"Well...Kind of." Aang answered.

"I am going to shove you off of Appa if you keep lying to me." Toph said.

"I'm not lying! I visit them all the time, and it's never really planned. Katara, Sokka and I have the whole thing arranged already. We arranged it after the war. There ready." Aang said.


	3. Old friends

The snow crunched underneath Katara's feet as she walked around the growing village. She had been stuck in the South Pole because Sokka, and Katara volunteered to stay behind and rebuild the village.

Aang came to visit three times a month. Toph... it seemed like she shut them off completely after the war ended. Katara's head turned from side to side as she looked around for him. But she knew exactly where he was...again.

She grabbed a hot tea, and eventually her feet carried her to the edge of the village. She looked up.

"Sokka." She called. No answer.

"Sokka, come on I know your up there." She said scowling. As if on que she heard him fall and part of the watch tower's snow tumbled down.

"I'm not coming down Katara." He said just as annoyed.

"Oh yes you are. On the count of three." Katara threatened. She got in a waterbending stance.

"Honestly Katara, how old do you think I am?" Sokka mocked.

"One." Katara raised her arms. Sokka looked outside the walls.

"Oooo! Look!" Sokka pointed outside but Katara ignored him.

"Two." The walls started to shake. Sokka yelled louder.

"AANG'S HERE!" He hoped that would get her attention.

"Aang?" Her eyes teared up and she ran out the gates waving her arms like a mad woman.

"AANG! OVER HERE!" She yelled. They hadn't been expecting him at all this month. He's been so busy with business. Aang's Bison started turning downwards, and eventually they were landed. Katara ran up to Aang. Katara jumped and grabbed Appa' horn pulling herself up on top of his head. She then threw her arms around her boyfriend.

"I've missed you so much Aang! I didn't think you'd be back for a long time!" Katara said between kissing him on the cheek.

"Business at the North Pole didn't take as long as I thought." Aang said. Katara had stopped kissing him finally. "So, I figured I'd stop by early. You know I can't stay away long, this is the only home I have now." Aang said.

"Aww...well as t-touching as your l-lover's re-reunion is, can we p-please go inside now? My e-entire body has gone numb!" Toph said. Katara's head whipped around to the sound of the voice.

"Toph?" It took her brain a moment to notice the sight in front of her. Was that really Toph? She looked so grown up! Her flowing black hair framed her face perfectly when it was down. Well the voice matched her anyways.

"TOPH!" Katara really started crying and threw her arms around the blind earth bender causing her to fall backwards.

"Ouch...Katara...ugh...it's good to see you too. Can we go in now? Not too sound bossy." Toph asked getting annoyed. It was only then that Katara noticed Toph's lack of warm clothing.

"Oh my gosh Toph, didn't you pack a blanket?" Katara asked. Aang grinned nervously.

"Haha, well that was kind of my fault."

"KIND OF?!" Toph shouted angrily.

"Aang! You should know to what to pack by now! You at least packed her a pear of shoes didn't you?" Katara asked. Aang was about to answer but Toph beet him to it.

"Katara, sitting here and lecturing Aang isn't making me any warmer. Can we go in now? Where are we?" She asked looking around only noticing the watch tower.

"We're by right in front of the North east watch tower!" Sokka chimed proudly walking towards Appa.

"Yeah." Katara interjected. "Because someone wouldn't come home when you were supposed too. Lets go get Toph some warm clothes Aang."

"On it, yip yip!" Appa started to lift off the ground.

"Hey wait don't forget me!" Sokka said trying to catch up.

"See you later slow poke!" Katara sang almost too happily.

"I won't." Toph grumbled.

"Toph, you can't see anything." Aang reminded her. Toph frowned.

"Gee that makes me feel all better twinkle toes. Anyways, what I meant was I won't be able to tell where he is anymore...That is unless he decided to finally shut that big yapper of his." Toph explained. Katara snaked an arm around Toph's shoulder.

"Trust me. That yapper of his, has gotten a thousand times louder over the years. You've got nothing to worry about." Katara said comfortingly.

They started laughing as they heard Sokka's voice faint in the background.

"Come on guys this isn't funny, come back and get me."


	4. Hating this already

Toph couldn't help but think about how ridiculous she looked in her new authentic water tribe outfit. Katara had said that she made the outfit specifically in case Toph ever decided to visit. But Toph had a slight suspicion that the clothes were hand-me-downs. It was confirmed when Toph heard Katara's mock surprise as she found a matching purple head band.

But she could care less if they were hand-me-down's, as long as she had something warm, she would be happy. Also the boots were quite comfortable, although she wasn't used to the heaviness of shoes so she felt a little wobbly.

"Wow Toph..." Aang remarked. "You look..." He flinched as Toph scowled at him.

"Like a marshmallow, I know you don't have to rub it in twinkle toes." She snapped.

"Well I think that you look like a water tribe princess." Sokka smiled at her.

She knew he was only telling her what she wanted to hear, but that didn't keep her cheeks from turning red. She turned to wear she thought Katara was standing, wanting to have a female's opinion on the matter. "I don't know. Katara do you think that this looks ok? I feel like I'm going to kill myself in this." Toph said.

Katara was actually behind Toph, so she walked up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Toph jumped slightly. "You look beautiful Toph, but if you want we could go shopping tomorrow."

Sokka's eye's lit up at the thought of shopping. "Oooh, yeah I saw a bag that would look amazing with that outifit!"

Toph's forehead tilted down, and she tapped her heal. "I dunno ... I don't ..." She wanted to say she didn't like it here. The ice, the cold, the clothes ... the more she found out about this place the more she wished she hadn't come. But she couldn't say it ... not now, not to Katara, Sokka, and Aang. This was their home, their place of refuge. It was part of who they were. If Toph said she hated that, then what would they think she thought of them? "... i just ..."

"Tell you what," Katara interjected, giving Toph's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "it's late and you've just had a long trip. How bout you get some rest and we'll talk wardrobe in the morning?"

"Yeah," Toph agreed feebly, feigning a yawn, "in the morning."

"Yeah, I suppose it's about time for a nap." Sokka yawned genuinely, big and loud as he turned to walk away. "Katara, you help Toph. Aang, you know where your room is. I'll catch ya guys in the morning."

"See ya Sokka," Aang responded, as he closed the gap between him and his two female companions. "Goodnight Toph." Aang then leaned in and gave Katara a peck on the lips, which she returned graciously. "Goodnight Katara," and with that Aang turned on his heel and headed off to his own bedroom.

With just the two girls remaining in the living room Toph decided to comment before Katara started leading the way to her room. "So ... you and Twinkle-toes huh?"

Katara turned her head and smiled softly as her face bloomed crimson. She wanted to say something but words wouldn't come. It was no secret that Aang and her were together. In fact, everyone had wondered why the two hadn't made it official a lot sooner.

"So when's the wedding?" Toph japed, grinning her urchin's grin as she felt Katara's pulse spike, even through the excessive layers of animal hide.

Katara cringed. That wasn't the first time she'd been asked that and it probably wouldn't be the last. "We're not ready yet," she stated firmly.

Toph scoffed at the back of her throat and rolled her eyes. "Not ready for what?" she demanded. "He's been fawning over you since the day i met you guys. You're his master, his best friend, and you trust him with your life. You came of age three _years _ago, almost four. And he came of age two years ago. Why not trust him with your lively hood?"

"It's ... complicated."

Toph squared off to Katara as best she could with her total blindness hampering her. Toph then jabbed a threatening finger in the direction of her taller friend. "Bullshit!" The one word hit Katara like a slap to the face. "Look, Sweet Cheeks, I may not be able to feel you lying through the ground but don't think i don't know a lame excuse when i hear one. He loves you and you love him. You both have loved each other for years and everyone knows it. There's absolutely nothing ..._nothing_complicated about that."

"But ... he's the Avatar," Katara protested, "I can't be the Avatar's wife."

"Katara, you're right," Toph said, her voice softening, "You can't be the Avatar's wife."

Katara quirked an eyebrow at this sudden apparent change in stance, but didn't quite let her guard down yet.

"But you're not going to be the Avatar's wife. You're going to be _Aang's _wife."

"But Aang _is-_"

"No, Katara. Aang is not the Avatar ... and the Avatar is not Aang." Katara was beginning to think that the small girl had suffered some sort of head injury but kept her mouth shut in case Toph had an explanation. "Yes, Aang has all the powers of the Avatar, and he can bend all four elements. But Aang and the Avatar are two different parts. They just happen to be inhabbiting the same body."

Silence passed between the two for several moments as Katara considered what Toph had just said. It was crazy. Two people in the same body. Completely ridiculous. But then ... the Avatar wasn't human. The Avatar was a spirit that manifested in a human's body.

This "two people in the same body" concept would actualy explain a lot. Like why there could only be one Avatar at a time. And why, from Aang's account, all of the Avatar's past lives had had different personalities. And also why it was only while an Avatar was in the Avatar state that the reincarnation cycle would be broken. Actualy, this would mean that it wasn't a reincarnation cycle at all. It would mean that the Avatar Spirit simply moved from host to host as they went through their cycle of life and death. But why not use inhabit an adult as a host?

That question was answered almost as she wondered it. An adult would have already lived most of their life. To maintain balance the host would need to master all four elements, which would take time that an adult was already running out of. Not only that but an adult would be more likely to abuse the newfound power for unjust purposes.

Katara's thoughts were interupted by Hakoda trodding down the hall, apparently having just woken. "Oh, good morning Katara," he greeted, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "I didn't expect you to be up this early. Who's your friend?"

"It's Toph dad. She arrived with Aang a couple hours ago," she explained.

Toph turned to the sound of Hakoda's voice and gave a slight wave. "Hey Chief," she greeted with a non-chalantness that would have made her father pull his hair out.

The name clicked in his mind and his expression turned to surprise. "Oh, Toph. Didn't recognize you wearing water tribe clothing." Something else registered in the man's mind and his expression changed to curiosity and he pointed at the clothes Toph was wearing. "Hey, are those-"

"The clothes i made for her just in case she ever came?" Katara interjected quickly. "Yup, they sure are." It took all the willpower she had within herself to try and keep her voice casual, and she only barely managed to swallow the nervous laugh threatening to escape the back of her throat.

"Oh ..." Hakoda said, not quite understanding Katara's behavior. "I just thought they kinda looked like-"

"Dad! could you leave us alone for a bit? Toph just got here and she's very tired from her trip ... and we were kinda in the middle of something." Katara's face wore a pained expression and she gestured for a key to lock the big mouth of his for now, very thankful that Toph couldn't see or feel what she was doing. Katara had in the past suggested making clothes in case Toph ever did come down but never got around to it.

For one there was the problem of not knowing exactly how big or little Toph was in certain areas, and then there was the fact that Toph wasn't very inclined to visit the South Pole anyways. So she had simply settled for keeping a good set of her own old clothes that looked like they might fit Toph (just in case).

Sokka had been briefed on what to do (or more precisely, what NOT to do) if Toph ever questioned the clothes origins. However, Dad (the one from whom Sokka had inherited his big meat-mouth and slow uptake for tact) unfortunately had not been briefed.

"Oh ... okay," Hakoda responded, confused but obediant. "Nice to have you here Toph, our home is your home. Now if you'll excuse me i guess i should go get ready for the day."

Toph furrowed her brow. "What was that about?"

Katara feigned confusion "Huh? ... Oh nothing."

Toph could tell Katara was feeding line but didn't feel like pushing the matter. "Whatever ... just ... take me back to my room."

Katara's left hand slid around Toph's waist and her right hand grasped Toph's right hand as Katara began to lead her friend up the hall to their rooms. Once there Katara took Toph to her bed and said, "If you need anything i'll be just across the hall."

"Could i get a thick slab of granite?" Toph asked retoricly, though in her mind she couldn't help but wish such a thing were possible.

Katara laughed, "I'm sorry, Toph, but rocks pretty much don't exist down here."

Toph sighed as she sad on the bed. "I know." And with that the young earthbender began to undo the buttons to her coat.

"Well," Katara said, wanting to stay if Toph needed anything but not wanting to hover, "call me when you wake up." She turned and headed back out of the room, but stopped at the door. "And Toph," she added, "Thank you."

Toph didn't say anything but gave a knowing grin in her friends direction, and with that, she was alone.


	5. Is this really happening?

Now she walked arm in arm with Katara at her right and Aang at her left. It was mortifying to be in this position. She had spent so much time being independent of her friends, that now that she was being forced to depend on them so fully was ... Indescribably uncomfortable.

Sokka led the way with his endless chatter. He continued to blather on about how much had changed, how the village had grown into a city. He talked of how he'd resumed training the boys of the tribe when he'd returned, and mentioned something about a star pupil. It wasn't until he said something about two of the youngest of his recruits who had begun to show promise of bending that Katara had started to take over the conversation.

Toph had been polite through her half listening. Luckily the only conversational contributions required of her was the occasional nod, with a frequent "Hmmm," "Nice" or, "Wow, you guys have been busy."

As interesting as Sokka's armed training regiment (or Katara's two potential pupils) was to the young Earth-bender. What she was really concentrating on was counting steps. She'd spent her first six years of life having to cope without any form of sight, even from Earth-bending. Even after Toph met the Badger-moles it had taken her _months _to learn to see anything through her Earth-bending. Now she drew upon the experience in her earliest childhood to attempt some form of self sufficiency.

But like all worthwhile endeavors, it would take time.

Now they made it to the clothing shop, and Toph felt the temperature of the room increase dramatically. She heard a fire crackling somewhere on the far side of the room. Toph also felt the _'Thunk' _of her boots on the first hardwood floor she'd been on since she'd come to the south. The group stopped and Aang unhooked his arm from Toph's hand.

Toph lightly squeezed Katara's arm with anticipation

"Toph, if you want to you can-"

Toph, not needing any more prompt, immediately flopped down on the floor and began tugging at the bootstraps in an attempt to get the boots off. Katara giggled, partly at Toph's eagerness to get the boots off, and partly at her inability to complete the task. "Toph, slow down," she prompted. "You're making them tighter by pulling like that."

The Earth-bender threw up her arms in surrender and frustration. "Well it's _your _fault," she complained. "_You're_the one who didn't show me how to take them off."

Katara knelt down and took Toph's boot in her hands. "I'm sorry Toph, i didn't think about it." Katara began working at the straps to one of the boots. It felt to Toph like the Water-bender wasn't making much progress either.  
Sokka knelt down and placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Here, let me do it. We'll be here all day if you keep going like that."

Toph's heart skipped a beat at the thought of this. It was foolish she knew, Sokka was only taking her boots off. But why was it that she had to put all of her effort into controlling her breathing? Katara's head turned to scowl at her brother, not noticing Toph's reaction. "It doesn't matter, this is a shopping day."

"Yeah, but it doesn't count if we never even enter the store."

Katara sighed and rolled her eyes, but relinquished Toph's leg to her brother. Sokka put both knees on the floor and clamped Toph's foot between them. Toph's body froze to a rocklike state as Sokka concentrated on loosening the straps that kept Toph's foot contained. He started at the bottom, the strap just above the bridge of her foot. Once he managed to loosen it a little and get his finger under the strap it came undone rather quickly. He then repeated this process on the second strap at mid-shin. Then the third up by Toph's knee.

After the straps were undone Sokka placed his left hand under Toph's knee and the other down by her ankle. Toph felt a shiver travel up her thigh to somewhere in her chest as he did this and pulled her boot down her leg. Once the boot was off he released his firm but gentle grip on her leg and Toph released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

Without prompt Sokka began to repeat the process and Toph let out a faint whimper as she was still recovering from the residual tingling from the first shiver. This whimper caught Katara's attention and she placed a hand on Sokka's wrist stopping him, "Are you alright Toph?"

This interruption shook Toph back into reality and her brain spun trying to catch up with Katara's question and spit out an answer without turning into a pile of babbling goo on the floor. "No ... yeah ... I'm fine," she stammered. "It just feels good to have my feet free again is all."

Sokka gave Katara a suspicious look. "Can i finish now?"

Katara removed her hand. "Yeah, sorry."

Sokka mumbled something about 'being such a mom' but Katara wasn't paying attention. She watched Toph carefully this time as Sokka worked his way up the boot. It was when he pulled Toph's boot off that she saw it, the slight (nearly imperceptible) quiver she'd missed the first time.

"There we go," Sokka declared with a grin, totally unaware of Toph's reactions. "Free as a sparrow-keet. Now for some shopping."  
Toph pressed her lips together and nodded, not trusting herself to speak just yet. Sokka's grin grew ear-to-ear and he rose to dash off into the store without so much as a second glance at the blind girl, with Aang only a half step behind. Katara grabbed Toph's arm and helped her friend up, but as Toph came to a standing position Katara whispered. "I saw that"

Toph felt her heart freeze. Even though there could have potentialy been any number of things Katara saw that she could be refering to, Toph knew exactly what she meant. And no matter how much Toph wanted to make it not true, to try and play it off that Katara's foolish eyes were playing games, she couldn't. Toph's usualy sharp and quick mind refused to work fast enough for that sort of non-chalance. Instead, Toph felt her mouth go dry and she tried clenching her stomach to keep it from doing flip-flops.

Katara hadn't meant anything by what she said, in fact she felt kind of happy for her friend. Toph had always been something of a loner, even after the group started getting along, and Katara figured it would do the girl some good to have a crush. Not to mention the world of good the relationship could do for Sokka once he figured it out. But now Katara could see Toph's distress. "Look, Toph, it's okay," she said, turning her friend so Aang and Sokka couldn't see the anxiety in Toph's demeanor. "There's nothing wrong with it."

Toph couldn't believe what was happening. One moment of weakness and she'd let Aang convince her to come down here. Now that moment of weakness had set her up for another and the secret she'd kept for so many years had now gone public. Toph wanted to say something, but the words couldn't get past her throat. She began to shake her head, fast and hard.

This quick and violent motion threw Katara off guard so she wasn't ready to grab Toph's arm before she'd slipped away. Toph was out the door and running down the street they'd just came. Yet for all her need to get away Toph's legs only got her about ten-feet from the door.

Her legs went weak and she fell to her knees. The cold stung her feet but she didn't care. She went to her hands to try and feel her way along the ground and continue her escape. But that position made it more than her poor overstressed body could handle and she threw up. The contents of that morning's sea-food breakfast spilled out in front of her. She felt the puddle spread to her hands, and though she wanted to move them she couldn't, not without falling face first into the sludge.

Then, Katara was at her side. She used her waterbending to whisk away the vomit to the side of the path. Her brother's voice called back to her from the doorway, "What happened? Is she okay?"

Aang's voice was also there too. "Toph, what's wrong?"

Katara turned to glare at them. "Go away," she commanded. The boy's recoiled slightly at Katara's sudden and insistent near-wrath. Katara misspercieved this hesitation as disobediance. "I said, GO." This time the boys ducked back into the store without so much as _considering _to eavesdrop, for fear of Katara's temper.

Toph hocked out as much of the vomit taste as she could and Katara whisked that away too. Her body began to shudder uncontrolably, partialy in response to throwing up and partialy in response to the cold shooting up through her hands and feet.

Katara, also barefoot, placed a hand on Toph's back and began rubbing, trying to calm her friend. "Shhhhh ... Toph it's okay."

Toph mumbled something that Katara couldn't understand. "Huh?"

Toph spoke again trying to speak as clearly as possible, though it only came out as a faint half groan. "I wanna go home."

Katara put her arm under the girl and helped her up to her knees. "Here, let me take you." Toph wrapped her arms around Katara's neck and allowed herself to be picked up. The earthbender was quite heavy in her arms but Katara was determined to get her friend back to the house without help.

"Katara?" Toph asked, the strain in her voice obvious.

Katara's responding, "Hmmm," came out as more of a groan than a response.

"Don't tell anyone i let you carry me."


	6. Crushes

Toph sat on the edge of her bed feeling rather defeated. Her stomach was empty, her hands only stopped shaking when she gripped them really tight, and no one had said hardly two words to her when they got home. Toph couldn't really complain about that last part though, she probably would have bitten off the head of anyone who had asked her if she was alright.

Katara re-entered the room with a tray of fish-smelling food. She set the tray down on the bedside table somewhere to Toph's left and sat down on Toph's right. Toph decided not to sit in silence anymore and just get Katara to say what she wanted to say. "Katara, just say it."

Katara was taken slightly aback by this. "Say what?"

"Whatever it is you sat down next to me to talk about," Toph shot back. She refrained from adding an, 'I'm not stupid,' at the end of that.

"Oh, yeah," Katara said, sheepishly. "I just ... I'm sorry if what i said upset you."

Toph sighed. "Katara, i'm fine. It's just been a little stressful here is all," she said, trying (and not quite succeeding) to sound confident. "It's nothing i can't handle."

Katara looked at her friend. "Is it?"

"I'm fine, Katara," Toph insisted, "really."

Katara went silent and nodded but didn't move from her spot. Toph, considering the subject dropped, reached for the tray on the nightstand. She hoped that Katara would either change the subject or go away. She felt her way gently around the bedside-table till her hand bumped the plate.

She'd just started eating when Katara spoke again. "You know it's okay to talk about it."

Toph spoke through her full mouth. "Talk about what?"

"About what happened in the store," Katara said, not impressed by Toph's dismissal.

Toph swallowed. "Nothing happened," she declared, before stuffing more food into her mouth. "I've just been stressed and my stomach freaked out. It's nothing to baby me over."

"That's NOT what i'm talking about and you know it."

Toph roughly set the plate back onto the tray and stood to face Katara. "Look, Sweety, I'm not really in the mood for this."

Katara stood and squared off to her "Is that so?"

"Yes ...ma'am... that's so."

"How long?"

Toph was confused by this question. "What?"

"I didn't stutter," Katara declared, refusing to back down from her question. "How long have you been like this?"

"I haven't."

"A long time then?"

Toph was getting upset now "CAN it Katara, or i swear-"

"No, i'm not canning anything until you _talk_to me"

Toph threw out her arms. "There's nothing to talk about."

Katara paused and pursed her lips before she resorted to what she was about to do. "Bullshit."

Toph gave Katara a look of _'oh no you did not.'_"Oh, no. Nuh uh. This is _nothing_like that."

"So there is something."

"NO ... Damnit, Katara ... just drop it, okay?"

"No, the only reason you want me to is because i saw it before he did. And i'm not leaving this room until i get some answers, young lady."

"You aren't getting any-"  
"Or would you rather i get _him_to ask the questions?"

Toph's mouth shut with a nearly audible click. She ground her teeth in anger, fuming over Katara's willingness to fight dirty. Toph wanted to be defiant ... but this was one of the few bluffs she wasn't willing to call. A moment of tense silence passed between the two girls before Toph forced her shoulders to relax instead of trying something stupid.

Katara saw this and relaxed herself. _'Finally, we're getting somewhere,' _she thought. "Now, sit." Her voice was still hard but no longer threatening.

Toph resisted, still wanted to fight Katara every step of the way. But she obeyed, however reluctantly.

Katara sat on the bed next to her friend, her voice was softer now. "Now talk to me."

"Why?" Toph demanded as she turned to glare at Katara's voice. "So you can have _more _to hold over my head?"

Katara sighed, "No, Toph, I want to help you."

"Then just leave me alone. I don't want your help."

"I know you don't want my help, Toph, but you're not doing yourself any favors by keeping this bottled up. You proved _that_out there in the middle of the street."

"I don't care. I don't _want_any favors."

Katara turned her head to the door and shouted. "Hey, Sokka?"

Toph's voice was low and threatening. "Katara, I _swear _if you tell him _anything_-"

"You'll _what_?" Katara dared.

Toph glared for a moment as a ball of fear began to build up in her throat. She tried swallowing but it didn't go away. "Katara, please?" This was turning into a nightmare all on it's own as Toph now felt herself become reduced to begging. "Please, don't do this?"

They could now hear Sokka's footsteps coming up the hall. Katara hadn't made a single sound or motion since her threat and Toph felt herself becoming more and more desperate. "Katara, no."

Sokka was only a few feet from the door when Katara finaly spoke. "I won't, but you should."

Then Sokka was at the door. "Yeah, what's up?" he asked as he stuck his head in.

Katara waited a moment or two before speaking. She then turned to Sokka and smiled sweetly. "Could you and Aang go to the market and see if there are any moon-peaches? Toph's still not feeling well and i think some fruit would really help."

Sokka's gaze shifted back and forth between the two girls sitting on the bed. Toph's head was down and seemed to refuse to face in his direction, while Katara sat there looking a little too innocent for him to believe she wasn't up to something. But, with no further proof of guilt than his gut instinct he was forced to respond with an, "Uhhh ... sure?" then added a "Was that all?"

"Yeah ... well, actualy. If you could get a few pieces of all the fruit there, that would be nice, but be sure you check them all for moon-peaches ... and only get the best ones."

Sokka cringed visibly at this. He had known better than to ask if there was more, but he couldn't say no after he'd already accepted the first half of the task. So now all he could do was responed with a pained "Okay."

Katara responded with a, too graciously sweet and sing-song-y, "_Thank_you _Sokka_," and let him leave.

Toph pulled her legs up onto the bed, resting her chin on her knees. She was thankful Katara hadn't said anything, but her silence most definetly came with a price. Toph didn't like the idea of what that price was going to be.

Comfortable with the distance Sokka had made sulking his way down the hall, Katara spoke up. "Alright, that should keep them away for a few hours," she declared.

Toph didn't respond.

"So," Katara started, "you and my brother huh?" she asked, in much the same tone Toph had used just the other day when their roles had been reversed.

"Katara, why are you doing this?"

"Because, it's about time you had a crush. I was beginning to think you were running off with some random Earth-kingdom boy and not telling Aang about it."

"And so what if i am?" Toph retorted hotly

"Nothing. I mean it's fine if you are," Katara said, backpeddaling a bit. "What i mean is ... I wonder about you sometimes ... i worry and care about you." Toph looked like she was about to retort. "And, i know you don't need me to be worrying. I know better than most that you can handle yourself ... but," Katara's voice was low and serious, "you're a friend. You're part of our team." Katara's demeanor loosened and her tone became lighter as she smiled. "And just like everybody else on the team, you have to put up with me worrying about you."

Toph chuckled at this. Katara was ever the maternal pressence, but apparently she'd found a small sense of humor over time.

"Finally a smile," Katara exclaimed sarcasticly.

"I'm sorry," Toph said, "I really don't ... don't ... care for the snow."

Katara put a reasuring arm around her friend, "I know. You're litteraly out of your element here. To be honest, with how you rely on earth so much we thought you'd never come here," she almost stopped there but then decided to add, "and we were okay with that."

"I just ... Aang was so insistant ... and i ... i really missed you guys."

"And we missed you too," Katara said, squeezing a side-hug. "Especially Sokka."

Toph rolled her eyes, "Would you _stop_that?"

"I'm serious, Toph. Sokka missed you, even if he won't say it out loud. For the longest time he kept wondering why his arm felt so weird," she said, the broad smile on her face staining her voice. "Before he realised it was because the bruise you kept giving him had actually healed."

"Haha. Sweeet. I haven't socked anyone in the arm in forever."

Katara giggled, "Yeah, you make up for that on Aang sometimes. There was one time he came home with only partial mobility in his arm."

"Yeah, i knew he was lying when he said he was fine."

Katara rolled her eyes, "You always do."

A content silence filled the room as the two girls pondered and reminised the happy thoughts within their own minds. Toph felt oddly calm sitting there with Katara's arm laying acrossed the earthbender's shoulders. She felt the relaxation of that arm flowing into her and spreading throughout her body. It wasn't until Katara shifted her position slightly that Toph realised she'd leaned over and rested her head on the waterbender's shoulder.

"Can i ask you a question, Toph?"

Toph's face winced slightly. She took in a deep breath and held it, wishing she could just ignore her friend and go back to relaxing. But she couldn't, and so let out a slow and long sigh. "Yeah," she said, hoping it wouldn't be about Sokka, but knowing better than to dream such a fantasy.

"Why don't you tell him?"

"Is 'because i just don't want to' not good enough?"

"Frankly? ... no, it's not."

Toph picked her head up off of Katara's shoulder and shrugged the arm off. Katara feared that Toph was going to bottle up, but kept silent.

Toph was tired of resisting her friend on this. "I just ... at first it was because we were in the middle of a war. Then i just wasn't sure it was right ... me being so young ... how could i know what love felt like when i wasn't old enough. I mean, it wasn't as obvious as it was with you and Aang. So i thought that something was probably missing." Toph sighed again before continuing, "And then he broke Suki out of prison and it just felt like" Toph's voice cracked as a lump formed in her throat, "I-i jus' didn' matter to 'im anymore."

Tears began to bubble in her eyes now and she wiped them away. Katara saw this and pulled Toph in close, holding her friends head to her chest. "Shhhh," she said, trying to be comforting, "it's okay."

Toph sniffed and regained some of her composure. "He was ... the first guy to make me feel like i mattered," she said, speaking into Katara's shirt. "I mean, yeah, I mattered to Aang, but that was 'cause i had something he needed. I didn't have anything for Sokka and he still made me feel special."

"You _are_special, Toph."

Toph pushed herself away from Katara, shaking her head. "You don't understand. I knew i was special. I had entire stadiums of people cheering because i was special. But he made me _feel_special in a different way from anybody else. Like ... he could make me laugh when all i wanted to do was just cry and scream. He understood me in ways nobody else did. He didn't care about how I am already a master of earthbending. He's the first guy to like me for me."

Katara listened as her friend vented about the boy she loved. As she did so one thought kept going through her mind, and now she voiced that thought. "Toph, you have to tell him."

"I can't."

"You need to."

"Katara i CAN'T!" she insisted. "It'll just make everything weird and awkward. We were best friends before we all split up ... we still are in many ways. But if i tell him how i feel and he doesn't feel the same way then everything we've done to get as close as we are will be _gone_... poof ... a leaf on the blustery wind of last fall, never to be found again." Toph paused for a moment to let that sink in. "I can't let go of that."

There was a sound at the door. A faint and feeble whisper of a boy who knew he'd heard something not meant for him. "Umm ..." Aang wanted to walk away and pretend he hadn't heard anything, but Katara had seen him.

"Sokka said you wanted moon peaches," he tried explaining as fast as he could, "so i asked the neighbors." He held out the armload of aforementioned peaches as far as he could without dropping them, as if the offering would somehow cleanse him of this treacherous sin.


	7. If words could kill

_Hey guys, I know it's been a long time since I've updated; but I've just had a very busy year! I'm a junior in high school, and my teachers load me with homework, also I'm in dance team, and competition which I have that every day for three or four hours after school. Plus competitions last all day. Any ways, sorry for taking so long to update! Hope you under stand :) Also this story is credited to .com. I got this Idea from her. But I am changing it and adding my own plot so I won't be completely copying off of her! Any ways, to the_ story~

* * *

Toph sprang to her feet. "How long were you standing there!?" she demanded.

"Uhhhhh ..." Aang glanced between the two girls, trying to come up with an answer that wouldn't get him killed "I ... Uhhhhh."

"HOW LONG?"

Katara spoke up. "Toph it's okay," she said, placing a firm hand on her friend's shoulder, but not yet daring to get in the way. "Aang can keep a secret."

Aang nodded vigorously, an action that was lost on Toph but made him feel better none-the-less. "I swear," he declared, "on my arrow," he added, genuinely fearing for his physical well being.

Toph simply glared for several, long, tense moments. Then she pointed to the ground at her feet. "Here," she commanded.

Aang hesitated, unsure of exactly what was expected of him.

"NOW!"

Aang jumped and moved to the indicated location, just within arm's reach of Toph. The earth-bender reached out her arm, as if she wanted to shake hands. Aang shifted the armload of peaches to his left arm did likewise, clasping his hand to hers.

"Now, say it!"

Aang swallowed as he now realized what she wanted. He was telling the truth, but he was already so nervous that his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest and smack Toph in the face. "Uhhhhh ... I promise ... to keep this a secret."

"From?" Toph prompted.

"From everyone," he added.

Silence followed. Aang had to force his legs to keep from shaking while he waited for Toph's response. He did NOT want to be the one who pissed off this stout young woman in such a manner, especially when she already had a hold of him.

Finally, Toph, released his hand with a terse (almost disappointed), "Fine."

A wave of relief washed over Aang so intensely he almost collapsed there on the floor.

Katara sighed in relief as well and placed both hands on Toph's shoulders. "Alright then, Aang, you can go. Watch for Sokka and warn us when he comes home."

"Ummm ..." Aang held up a tentative finger, wanting to interject his own thoughts. "Actually ... I'd like to talk with her for a bit." He wasn't exactly sure if that would be okay, so decided to add in a, "If that's okay," to make it more of a request.

Toph scowled and turned her head away. '_Just what I need,'_she thought, '_a tag team.'_She wasn't particularly fond of the way things were going.

Katara tilted her head and her eyes narrowed curiously at her boyfriend. She mouthed the words 'Are you sure?' and Aang responded with a nod. Katara shrugged and sighed. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to have a guy's opinion on this."

Toph snorted at this, remembering their outing to watch the Ember Island Players. "Whatever," she said plopping back down on the bed, "but when he gets back you're done and this conversation will not start back up again. Clear?"

Katara quickly took the peaches from her boyfriend to put them in the kitchen where they belonged. Aang patted Katara on the shoulder and they exchanged a kiss on the cheek. "This shouldn't take long," he whispered.

Katara wanted to stay and hear what Aang had to say, quite frankly she didn't know what he knew that would help. But he thought he did that was enough for her, and someone needed to make sure Sokka didn't find out the same way Aang had.

Toph sat on the bed and crossed her legs, leaning back to put weight on her hands. Aang had a moment of realization that Toph had indeed grown into a woman. But pushed that thought aside and pulled up a chair, sitting in it backwards. He opened his mouth to talk, but then realized he didn't know how exactly to say what he wanted to say, "Uhhhhh."

"Uggghh," Toph flopped back onto the bed in frustration, flailing her arms at the ceiling, "just say what you want to say, so you can finally go away." She hadn't intended for that to rhyme but didn't draw attention to the fact that it did.

Aang shook his head a bit, slightly startled. The air-bender recomposed himself and coughed before making his statement. "You need to let go of your friendship with Sokka."

His statement sounded so ridiculous Toph almost thought it was a joke, and she was not amused by it. "What?"

"It's something the Guru told me when I was trying to master the avatar state," Aang explained.

Now Toph was thoroughly confused. "The Guru you met during the war told you I had to let go of my friendship with Sokka?"

Aang hit his forehead down on the chair back when he realized how what he said didn't make sense. "No, he didn't say that. " He looked back up to try again. "When I was with him he said I had to learn to let go of my connection with Katara to unlock the chakra that would allow me to access the pure cosmic energy of the Avatar State."

Toph paused for a bit as she tried to figure out what he meant …. It didn't click yet. "I don't follow."

This was turning out to be harder than he thought it would be. To be entirely honest he didn't understand exactly how it worked either. It just made sense to him. Now he wasn't sure how to make it make sense to Toph. "Okay," he glanced around the room, hoping that something there would give him an answer. Nothing did. "You care about Sokka, right?"

"Yeah."

"You love him?"

"Aang, I've been over this with your ice queen."

"Do you?"

Toph shot back up to a sitting position. "YES, I love him. MOVE on."

Aang held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay." He scratched his head, trying to think faster. "Uhhhhh."

"Aang, if you don't get to the point soon I'm going to throw you out the window. "

Aang glanced around but couldn't find a window in the room. This room was near the center of the house. "Umm Toph? There ar-"

She guessed at what he was about to say. "Then I'll throw you at the wall and MAKE a window."

"Look, I know you like him. I know it's hard, and I know that if you tell him you'll be putting yourself in a vulnerable position. I know what it's like to be in what seems like a one way relationship like the one you're in. You know how you feel, you know what you want, and he doesn't seem to be showing any sign of feeling the same way." Aang didn't quite know where all this was coming from, or quite where he was going with this little, unplanned speech, but he just kept talking. "It also plain to see you want to be closer to him, but the friendship you have isn't strong enough to get you as close as you want. You're not strong enough to do it by yourself. It's like you're standing on one side of a canyon and he's on the other. You can talk and joke and have a good time staying on your respective sides. You can be great friends, but you can't be together unless you jump across. You can't make the jump by yourself. He has to reach out and catch you." He paused for a bit so they could both digest what he'd just said. "You have to trust that he won't let you fall."

Toph was silent for some time longer, thinking about what the young monk had said. She tried to find a hole in his statements, trying to find something that he was missing, some facet he'd overlooked that would make his words wrong. "Why can't he jump?"

"He doesn't know you want him to."

She felt a little silly for asking that. "Well …" something else came to mind, "What if … What if he doesn't catch me?"

Aang couldn't help but wince at the thought of that. "Well," he said, not particularly liking the answer, "You'll fall. It'll hurt. Probably a lot."

Toph shifted uncomfortably at this.

"But you'll live," Aang said, trying to be encouraging, "And you can always climb back up when you're ready." He thought some more about analogies regarding love. "There will be other people along the canyon."

"I don't want some 'other person' I want to be with him."

"Well he'll still be there too," Aang reasoned, trying to make sure she stayed calm.  
There was some more silence as Toph thought, while Aang watched her. "Why can't he just be on my side of the canyon?"

Aang had to stifle a chuckle at this. "It doesn't work like that, Toph." He thought about why that didn't work and found a better analogy. "Okay, it's more like that one valley full of pillars we saw in the Fire Nation. The one where Combustion Man first attacked us. Sokka's got one and you've got another, and everyone else has their own."

Toph sighed. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

Aang scooched the chair forward and placed a hand on Toph's shoulder. "Hey," he said, trying to comfort her, "nothing says you have to jump. Not today, not tomorrow, not even this week. The thing is, if you're ever going to want more from what you have with Sokka, you're going to need to jump to him. You're going to have to trust him."

Toph knew this was true. She wanted to trust him. She wanted to be with him. It was just …. She wanted to _KNOW _that he would accept her. She wanted to know that he would love her.

Aang could see that what he said had made sense. He wasn't sure how much it helped but it was all he had right now. "Well," he stated after a few more moments, "That was all I had to say."

Toph managed a smile and lifted her head towards the bald boy. "Thanks Aang."

"No problem," he said, standing and returning the wooden chair to its desk. Then a realization occurred to him. "Did you really need moon-peaches or was that just to get Sokka to go away."

Toph sighed and shook her head. "Your Polar Princess made that up to get rid of the Meat Monger," explained Toph, who also stood. "But to be honest fruit sounds like a good idea." She thought about that for a moment and decided to amend her statement. "Just not those cumquat thingies."

"Sea-prunes," he corrected, taking Toph by the arm.

"Whatever." And with that the two made their way to the kitchen where Katara was waiting.

Katara jumped up from her chair the moment she saw them. Her expression was grave. "Aang, a messenger hawk just came in. There's been a sighting of the Ozai Loyalists who have been raiding merchant ships."


	8. Sorry, not sorry

Aang and Toph were both taken aback by this, shouting in harmonious disbelief "WHAT!?"

Katara held up a scroll. "They're out at Whale Tail Island. Aang, if we hurry we might catch them."

"I'm coming too." Toph chimed in.

"No," commanded Katara, "You're on vacation and you're no good out over the water."

"I can still-"

"No," Katara was being insistent, but trying to stay calm. She went over and placed a hand on Toph's shoulder. "Aang and I will go and handle the pirates."

Toph's head shook in disbelief about to become stubborn. But then her eyes narrowed. She snatched Katara by her wrist. "Say that again."

Katara's eyes widened. "What?" She tried to pull her hand away, but Toph's grip was solid. "Aang and I have handled pirates before. Ow." Katara's new statement tried to remedy her mistake, but the damage had been done.

"That's not what you said, Katara," her grip tightening on Katara's wrist.

Katara twisted and pulled at her arm uselessly, still trying to get away "Owww. That hurts, Toph."

"Say it."

Aang started to get involved now. "Toph, let g- oooff" Toph stiff-armed him causing the Air-bender to fall on his bum.

"Where are the pirates, Katara?"

Katara winced as she realized there was no way out of it. "They're …. They're …" She glanced quickly left, right, all around her line of sight, trying to find something to help her be 'truthful' but she came up empty. Katara sighed and looked down at her feet, mumbling, "They're not real."

"KATARA!"

"Look, Toph. It's just to convince Sokka that we have a legitimate reason to leave you two behind, nothing more."

"I don't care," Toph shouted. "You two are NOT going to leave me here alone with him."

Aang hopped back up and re-engaged himself in the conversation, "Why not?" He hadn't been involved but he thought it was a great idea.

Toph wheeled on him, no longer worried about taking on the both of them in this argument. "Because, I'm not ready, and I'm not going to put myself in the position to where all I have to do is spend an entire week in one giant awkward moment."

Katara's instinct was to stand with Aang to back him up, but instead decided to move to the other side of Toph. The earth-bender was used to fighting a unified front, not harassment from all sides. It was a dirty trick, but they were trying to help her."Toph, it isn't going to be an awkward moment unless you let it become that. Just tell him you like him and if he doesn't, life goes on."

"She's right, Toph. If any of us let our feelings get in the way like this you'd hit us with a rock and tell us to stop being such a pansy."

Toph was getting beyond frustrated now. "I don't CARE. You're not me, and I'm not you. I think I'm entitled to let my feelings run my life for once."

Now it was Katara's turn. "But Toph, you're not letting your feelings run things. Your feelings are telling you to love him. You're just being a pansy and letting a bunch of little fuzzy feelings scare you into nightmares, panic-attacks, and throwing up in the middle of the street like a possessed child."

Toph grit her teeth together in anger. This was infuriating. Why did Katara have to meddle? Why did she want this to move forward so badly? "Katara, for the last time, STOP trying to set me up. Stay away from Sokka and just let me handle it when I want to."

Katara set her jaw and glared still arguing with Toph in her mind. Toph set herself facing Katara like an opponent. If there had been any earth around Aang wouldn't have been surprised if the two women had started hurling their native elements at each other. It wouldn't have been the first time.

But then Katara did something unexpected. "Fine," she said, still glaring, "do what you want. But if you don't ever tell him then you're going to regret not knowing for the rest of your life." She knew she was getting dangerously close to telling Toph about her brother's own secrets. Much as she wanted to give the blind woman proof that her feelings would be reciprocated, she'd already sworn a silent oath of secrecy to her brother. Fortunately though, she'd already initiated plan-b. Or was it C? It didn't matter.

Toph wasn't quite ready to back down. She wanted to make another fight out of that last statement. But she wanted to end the argument before Sokka came back more than anything else. "Can I just eat some fruit?"

Katara's voice softened at this and managed a smile "Yeah," she handed the scroll to Aang, "Aang, take care of this before Sokka gets home, I'll cut up some peaches for Toph." Much as Toph was going to hate her for it, Katara was going to help her friend no matter what. She wasn't going to break any promises if she didn't have to, at least, not any major ones.

Aang was a little baffled by the sudden shift in mood. He almost thought he'd blacked out for part of the fight. But he did as he was told; taking the scroll he nodded and left, intending to burn the scroll in the living room fireplace. He was a little curious to see what exactly Katara had written. Whatever it was it probably wouldn't pass for an official document. Which wouldn't have mattered considering that Toph couldn't read and thus wouldn't know about how an official document would look.

But then it would be interesting to see how good Katara was at forging official documents. They'd seen plenty of them after the war had finished.

Curiosity got the better of him and he opened to scroll. It read, 'Get Appa ready, we don't have much time.'

* * *

As Katara pulled out a knife to cut up the borrowed moon-peaches she prayed Aang would read the scroll. She hadn't counted on Toph figuring out her lie, but she knew better than to let her entire plan hang by a single thread. Of course, a plan of two threads wasn't all that great either, but it was better than just the one. Aang's adherent curiosity was almost just as reliable as Toph's lie detection, so things were pretty well set to go smoothly from now on.  
Assuming she could get away from the stubborn truth reader before Aang was missed.

Toph found her way to the table and into a chair, listening to the sound of Katara cutting peaches. That sound wasn't enough to keep Toph's sensory deprived mind busy so she extended herself, trying to hear sounds further out; the wind's gentle moan out on the frost covered buildings, the pat and crunch of boots in the streets. It was odd sensing things in this way again, but it had a calming effect. It proved to her body that she wasn't alone. On the earth that wasn't a problem, those unspoken assurances came naturally. Now on the ice she had to work to find them. She couldn't feel them anymore, now she needed to listen. If she didn't she'd probably go mad.

Katara put the sliced peaches into a saucer and transferred it to the table in front of Toph.

Toph didn't know why Katara felt the need to slice the peaches. It was time consuming and Toph preferred holding the fruit in her hand anyways. She could tell where the peach was and wasn't, and keep the sticky juice off her hands. Now she'd have to chase the slices around whatever dish Katara had put them in and probably end up getting peach excrement all over herself. But it was whatever. So long as it kept Katara from running off and joining the pirate circus Toph supposed she shouldn't complain.

Hakoda entered the home just then, bee-lining for the kitchen. He'd just finished a fishing expedition early due to a quick catch. "Good afternoon ladies. How was your shopping trip?" The new smell accompanied with his sounds bewildered Toph but she welcomed the change.

Katara glanced at Toph, who resisted the urge to grouse, before speaking up. "Toph wasn't feeling well so we had to stop before we found what we wanted."

The Chief scratched his beard sympathetically. "That's too bad. Hope it's nothing serious," he said looking to Toph.

Toph felt their gazes falling on her and she waved them off. "I'll live," she said. "I'm just stressed from getting used to the ground, or lack thereof."

He nodded, remembering Toph's difference in perception. "Well, if there's anything I can do to help. Let me know," he said reassuringly. He then saw the peaches on the counter "I didn't know we had moon-peaches," he exclaimed, moving towards the counter. "I'd have taken some out with me."

"Aang got them for Toph, dad," Katara said trying to intercede before he began scarfing down all of Toph's fruit. "She's not feeling well, remember?"

"Oh, button it, nursemaid, I'm not _dying_." Toph swung her boot towards the water-bender, thunking it against the chair.

Katara conceded, lifting her hands in surrender. Hakoda didn't wait for any more confirmation and plucked up 2 peaches. As he turned to the table Toph picked up the saucer and handed it in the man's general direction. "Trade ya."

The chief smiled and accepted the saucer. It didn't matter to him whether peaches were sliced, diced, minced, chopped, or whole. They all ended up in the same place. He placed the two whole peaches in Toph's waiting hand and sat down as she took a rather large, and unladylike, bite out of one peach.

Katara couldn't help but feel a slight bit jaded by the exchange, but she didn't let it get to her. Instead she snagged two slices from her dad's dish and stood, heading out the door.

"Where are you off to?" Toph asked.

Katara shifted uncomfortably on her feet. "Well, uhhh-"

Toph held up a hand to stop her. "Okay."

Hakoda was mildly baffled by this and couldn't hold in his, "Huh?"

Without missing a beat Toph answered his question with a smirk, "Bathroom."

"**TOPH**!"

Hakoda couldn't hold down a quick snort. "Sorry hunnie."

Katara glared and huffed. "Grrah, you..." Angered and embarrassed, Katara stormed off in an almost false temper to go find Aang.

Toph held in her laughter as long as she could stand, trying to wait for Katara to get out of earshot. Then let out a loud belly laugh. Hakoda, though embarrassed for his daughter's sake, couldn't help but chuckle along with young girl. After they had quieted themselves Hakoda spoke, "You two just can't seem to keep from quarreling."

Toph sighed out a, "Yeah I know," half way plotting out the speech about 'getting along', or 'respecting others.'

Instead the man responded with a, "That's good."

Puzzled Toph couldn't help but blurt out, "What?"

Hakoda smiled at this, "It's nice to see Katara acting childish every now and again." His expression grew somber and down up into nothingness but still held a loving smile. "She's always been more mature than her age, but ever since her mother died she just grew up way too fast."

Toph thought about that and knew he was right. She'd always known. She'd just never questioned why because to her that's just the way Katara was, "Yeah."

"Sokka did too," he added. "But he's had more chance to experience childhood than his sister." He grinned now, "Still does from time to time."

Toph smiled knowingly and felt her tummy want to giggle.

After a moment without Toph responding the father decided to add, "but you already knew that didn't you?" and took a big bite of his peach.


	9. fighter

Toph felt like she wanted to scream. Was Hakoda REALLY serious about what he said? Did he realize everything that was going on right now? Was he guessing? Or was it just pure chance, and he was unintentionally insinuating about Toph's feelings for Sokka?

She felt like she wanted to throw up again. But seeing as there was nothing in her stomach _to_throw up, it didn't bother her all that much. There was too much thinking going on, all she wanted was to be able to stop worrying.

Hakoda spoke, interrupting her thoughts. "Ya' know, Sokka was planning for a fishing trip. Maybe you kids should go together."

Toph couldn't help but let a grimace slowly creep onto her features. "I-I don't know about that, Chief," she said honestly. "Me and boats don't really go well together."

Hakoda chuckled at this, remembering Toph's bodily distress during the invasion's preliminary stage. "That's okay, he could take you ice fishing. You'd never even go _near_the docks," he said in an assuring tone. "Besides, I don't know of much that could keep your interest very long here in town. Plus you don't seem like the type to sit around doing nothing for a week while Aang and Katara go off pirate hunting."

"WHAT!?" Toph bolted to her feet, knocking the chair over.

Judging by the girl's reaction Hakoda deduced that Aang hadn't informed her of his intentions. "I … uhhh … Aang's out there reigning up Appa now."

As if the great beast was confirming his statement, one of Appa's deep groan's filled the room. Toph ran towards where she thought the kitchen door was. She clipped the icy frame with her shoulder and fell to the floor of the next room. Her arm went numb, but she didn't care.

Then Hakoda was there beside her, trying help the girl to her feet. Toph was running before he had her completely upright. Her outstretched arms bent as she ran into the door and her hands fumbled for the doorknob.

However, after she was outside Toph had no idea where to go. "DAMNIT KATARA! GET BACK HERE!"

But Aang and Katara were already in the air. Faintly, Toph heard Katara's voice, "You'll be fine. We'll be back in a couple days."

Toph raised her fist in the air, intending to slam it into the ground. "GRAHHHH!"

"Whoa," a hand grabbed her right wrist. Hakoda didn't know what the girl was going to accomplish but he knew an earth-bending stance when he saw one, and the end result wouldn't be good for her hands. So he held Toph to keep from hurting herself.

Toph wasn't in the mood to be stopped anymore. So instead of slamming her anger in the ground she turned on the chief. Toph wheeled left; bringing her elbow to bear whereabouts she suspected the man's gut was. She was a little low, hitting his pelvis, but the effect was the same. Hakoda doubled over and Toph pulled down with her right arm, flipping the man over her shoulder. "KYHAA!"

Hakoda's world upended itself and the next thing he knew he was flat on his back. Stars spangled his vision and a mild pain shot through his body. If he hadn't been worried about Toph that would have almost been a fun trip, san Toph's elbow driving his gut into his spine. But, like many benders, Toph wasn't used to hand-to-hand combat, and Hakoda still held her wrist. He wrapped his legs around Toph's left arm and held her right arm tightly with both hands.

Toph's legs flailed as she yelled at him. "Let me GO." Hakoda apparently wasn't listening to her. "Let me GO, you overgrown pinwheel."

"Now just," Toph was stronger than she looked and he was struggling to keep her in control, "just calm down, Toph. They're already gone."

Now Toph could hear spectators coming to see what all the commotion was about.

Hakoda switched his left leg from Toph's arm to up around her neck, trying to subdue her.

"DAD! TOPH!" Sokka shouted, basket of various fruits in one arm. "What the heck is wrong with you two?"

The tension relaxed in both of them as they stopped fighting, but they remained in the same position.

A mildly awkward silence filled the air between the three.

Hakoda was the first to speak, "Uhhhhh," trying to come up with an explanation for the boy "... She started it."


	10. you are so infuriating

_Hey guys sorry I haven't updated in a long time, but I have been very busy with dance and school. But dance is coming to an end for the year so I should be updating more often. I might make it once a week depends on how busy I am. Thank you for sticking through the story!_

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Sokka held it together until they all made it back inside. But once the three of them made it back inside Toph and Hakoda had a little explaining to do. All things considered, Sokka handled it rather calmly. "What in spirits name is WRONG with you two!?"

"Sokka I-" Hakoda tried to speak but Sokka cut him off.

"Brawling in the street? You're the CHIEF of the tribe."

"Sokka-" It was still no use, Sokka wasn't in a mood to listen.

The boy had sat Toph and Hakoda side by side on the couch while he stood over them pacing, ranting and raving around the living room. "If you want to blow off steam you do it in PRIVATE. What if someone got the wrong idea and joined in? You both could have been injured."

Hakoda decided to just wait him out, he'd get tired of yelling eventually.

Sokka looked around the room. Surely his bantering had drawn the attention of his baby sister. "Where's Katara? I'm sure she'd have something to say about this."

Seeing the opening Hakoda answered, "She and Aang left for a while."

"What do you mean they _'left _for a while?!" The boy snapped.

Hakoda leaned over to Toph. "I take back what I said about him being a child from time to time."

Somewhere in the back of her mind Toph had registered that statement as 'funny,' but Toph's mind was just about everywhere BUT in the room with her at that time. So all the man got in response was a slight nod.

"When are they coming back?"

Toph didn't seem to be in a mood to respond at the moment so Hakoda took the lead. "I don't know, a couple days perhaps? It depends on when they find the pirates."

"PIRATES? Of all the lame, ridiculous excuses you didn't fall for before... you believe there are _pirates._"

Hakoda leaned forward and pointed at the boy from his knee. "Son, your tone is treading on thin ice." Sokka winced inwardly as he was reminded of who was really in charge around here. "I understand your concern but your sister is a big girl now. She knows how to make good decisions."

"But Dad," Sokka reasoned, "There hasn't been-"

"Sokka," Hakoda interrupted, "I'm not stupid." Toph's stomach jumped and her expression became slightly more attentive at this, it seemed that they weren't talking about pirate hunting anymore. "You know Katara can make responsible decisions on her own. So let her."

Toph could tell Sokka wasn't going to just let it go. She knew him too well, he was going to argue, rant and rave, and throw temper tantrums even after he'd begun to accept that he was wrong.

"Yes, Sir." After he said this he saw Toph's attention and curiosity increase. It was always odd watching Toph's facial expressions because she never looked at, or even towards, whatever had caught her attention. She just stared, unblinking through the far wall, like it wasn't even there.

Hakoda saw his son's glance but maintained the stern gaze he had on the boy. "Good," now considering the subject to be dropped the man's tone lightened and he rose. "Now I'll let you two alone to plan your own outing."

Sokka's bewildered gaze snapped back and forth from Toph to his father a couple times. The idea of them going on their own little getaway hadn't even entered his mind until now, and given the circumstances it seemed rather preposterous. "Uhh," his mind tried to work through the logistics a bit before speaking, "are you sure that's-"

Hakoda waved the question off before it was finished, "Sure it is, you don't expect her to stay cooped up here alone the whole time do you?"

"Well, no. I was-"

"Then take her with you."

Toph found enough of her voice to interject a bit. "He can still-"

Sokka interrupted her, "I was just gonna stay."

"Sokka, I know you've been pulling triple shifts all week so you could get out of the town for a few days."

Toph tried again "I don't mind stay-"

"Dad, I'm not just gonna leave her here."

She was starting to get frustrated with the interruptions now.

"That's why she's gonna go with you."

"Do I get a say in-"

Sokka interrupted again, mostly out of not realizing Toph was speaking. "Why shouldn't I just stay here with her?"

"Dude, both of you need to stop talking like I'm not here."

Hakoda was starting to have fun with this. "Son, it's obvious that neither of you is particularly content with staying indoors all the time. I think a little camping trip would be just what you need."

"Seriously, this isn't funny guys." Toph leaned forward, glaring in Hakoda's direction, trying to be as threatening as possible.

"You sure it's okay, dad?"

Now completely fed up, Toph tried to insert her own answer. "NO?"

"Sure it is," Hakoda amended, "I can take care of things here while you kids go have fun. You've earned a vacation."

Toph grabbed a pillow, slammed it against her face and flopped back lengthwise on the couch. "Gahhhhh," she yelled into the pillow. She knew they were doing this on purpose and it was driving her insane. She hated feeling invisible like this.

This finally got Sokka's attention and he looked over to Toph, realizing that she had been trying to say something. But Hakoda reached his hand over into Sokka's field of vision to gesture his attention back to him. Succeeding this he mouthed 'play along' and motioned to ignore Toph as best he could. "Don't worry about me. If something comes up I'll send that messenger bird of yours out to get you."

Sokka glanced back at Toph, not quite sure how he was supposed to play along with this. It didn't really seem right to drag her out into the arctic wilderness with him, but then she also didn't seem at him at…well…home. Maybe dad was right. So he shrugged in resignation, "Okay, I guess that sounds fair."


	11. sneak attack

Hakoda left the room after reminding Sokka to take extra supplies for the trip, inwardly grinning at himself for his prowess in manipulating the situation. It wasn't entirely fair to Toph by shanghaiing her into camping with his son, but it would do her some good.

Sokka, having again forgotten Toph, had begun selling himself on the whole idea. After all he'd been planning this getaway for some time now. It wasn't fair that Katara leaving on a moment's notice should capsize his plans. Sure it wasn't exactly how he'd intended it, but things never worked out exactly how you planned them, even if you were Sokka, _Grand Master of All Greatness in Things to be Planned_. Toph was just a minor addition, and if that was the worst to happen to his planning then he might as well sleep the entire time, which didn't sound like bad idea right now.

Toph was much less enthused than he was. Having heard the man's departure Toph sat up and frisbeed the pillow in her hands with accidental accuracy, striking Sokka square in the chops. "Sounds FAIR? What in spirits name about that entire conversation sounded 'fair' to you?"

"It seemed like- … What? Do you not want to go?"

Toph gritted her teeth, clasping and releasing her hands in the air like she was restraining physical assault on the boy. "Guhh. That's not the point, Sokka."

This wasn't making any sense to him. The Toph he knew should have been jumping at the chance to get away from civilization. A camping trip was the one thing he'd expect her to actually enjoy down here. "Toph, what's wrong? I thought you might like to-"

"You _thought_ … it _seemed_… I _might_ … are you even _listening_ to yourself? You know so little about what's going on you have qualifiers coming out your armpits." Toph flopped back down to a laying position and crossed her arms, scowling up at the ceiling.

He instinctively raised his arm to look, as if such a thing was really possible, but Sokka's brain soon caught on to just what she'd said. He cringed, realizing that he never even questioned her about what she wanted to do. He'd just assumed she wanted to go camping. Whether he was right or not was beside the point and he knew it.

He opened his mouth to speak but Toph cut him off. "And don't even try asking now."

Sokka's mouth clicked shut, shame keeping him silent while Toph rolled over to glower at the back of the couch. He needed to say something. He wanted to say something. But as his arm reached up and scratched the back of his head he couldn't think of anything to say. He looked awkwardly around the room, hoping the answer would be written on something there. He knew such divine inspiration would never come to him, but it didn't keep him from trying.

His eyes came to rest on the pillow down at his feet and decided it was his fault she'd thrown it, thusly making it his responsibility to put it back where it belonged. The only problem was that Toph's head was-

His eyes twinkled with mischief as evil thoughts began slinked their way to the forefront of his mind. He formed a quick plan and changed his demeanor to appear more innocent. Sokka then sauntered as quietly as possible around the living room, whistling a cheerful tune in an attempt to sound absent minded.

Toph's expression at the couch contorted from irritation to confusion. She knew that whistle. She'd often hummed along with it whenever they were trying to pull one over on Katara. She didn't know what he could possibly be up to but decided not to wait too long to find out, he was getting closer. So she turned her body to face the ceiling again. "What are you doing?" she charged, not quite in the mood for shenanigans at the moment.

He was standing at the armrest by her head now, looking down the length of her body. "Oh nothing," he lied, quietly raising the pillow up. "Just doing a little … SNEAK ATTACK" and with that he shoved the pillow down at her face.

Toph didn't need to feel his movements to guess where his 'sneak attack' was going to strike and raised his arms to stop him. The pillow stopped on her forearms and she was prepared to tell him to can it because she wasn't in the mood. But all that escaped her mouth were peals of laughter as Sokka's hands dashed over her now exposed sides. She screamed and twisted and squirmed, trying to wriggle away. "STOP IT," she yelled, between bouts of uncontainable laughter.  
She flailed her arms, trying to get his to go away, but it was to no avail. Turning to protect one of her sides against the couch only exposed the other to greater torment.

She finally managed to grab his wrists and force his hands away from her. "I said stop," she said as her giggles subsided.

Sokka let her keep hold of her wrists and looked at her much happier looking, upside-down face. "You look much prettier when you smile," he commented honestly.

This caused her cheeks to heat and she turned away. She let go of his hands and began feeling the ground next to the couch trying to find the pillow. "I'm still mad at you."

"You don't look mad anymore," he said with a mild amount of triumph coloring his voice.

Toph's eyes narrowed and, finding the pillow, she stood to shove it in his general direction. "I am."

He caught the pillow with both arms but didn't let it distract him. "Look, Toph, I didn't mean to offend you. I just want you to enjoy yourself while you're here. And I figured you'd have more fun outside than you would inside. That's all."

"Just because I want to but can't do it on my own doesn't mean you get to dictate when and how I do it. That's just as bad as- …" Toph stopped herself there, but knew she'd said just a little too much.

"…As bad as what?" He prodded.

"Nothing," she said, turning away. "I didn't mean what I was going to say."

"Well, what was it?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Then why'd you say it."

"I didn't say it"

"You wanted to."

"That's not the same."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is."

"Sokka, I'm not going to say it."

The boy paused for a moment and decided to try mischief again. "I'll tickle you again if you don't tell me."

Toph put her hands up to try and block him, cautiously taking a step back. "Sokka, don't you dare."

"Then tell me."

"Sokka, I'm serious."

"I'm getting closer."

"If you do, Sokka, I swear I'm never going out wi-..."

Toph's sudden silence mid-threat caused him to withdraw his own ultimatum. "Huh?"

Toph looked away to the right as her mind scrambled for something different to say. "I ... I was going to say what you did was as bad as my parents."

"No no, what you said before."

Toph's mind was still scrambling but she was able to make a convincing adjustment. "I won't go camping with you if you keep on tickling me."

Sokka grinned devilishly. "Okay," he said.

"Good."

"I'll just wait till we're out there."

Toph scoffed and swung her fist, catching him the arm with the same satisfaction it gave her in the good old days. "Don't you _even_ dare," she said, not quite threatening through her broad grin.

"I'll go make sure we've got plenty of supplies. Is there anything special you want?"  
A mildly inappropriate thought entered Toph's mind for an answer but responded with a half lie. "Nothing specific."  
"Alright," He leaned in to give the girl a one armed hug, "I'll be right back."


	12. the talk

Sorry I've been gone a lot, I know but it's nearing the end of the school year! So of course things are gonna be busy. I have to catch up on last minute things. Plus I'm lazy I'll admit that. I've been getting really into supernatural and Sherlock. So I've been watching those a lot, and I've been on tumblr. But for being gone so long, I'll post two chapter's as a bonus! Any ways, hope you enjoy :)

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Sokka jotted through the kitchen and out the front door. Once out he went around to the side of the house where there was a small igloo they used as a storage space when preparing for such trips. Sokka dug away the snow purposefully packed at the entrance and crawled in to the structure, unaware of the fact his father had come out with him.

The man watched his son crawl into the icy dome and finished munching on his moon-peach before following the boy. The ceiling was just tall enough for Sokka to sit comfortably. Combined with the supplies and equipment there wasn't going to be enough room for Hakoda to completely enter so the man just stayed laying in the small crawlspace. "Got a moment?" he asked.

Sokka looked behind himself to see his dad. "Oh, hey," he greeted. "Yeah," the boy turned his body around and leaned back against his supplies, "what's up?"

The elder sighed. "Well, there've been some things I've been meaning to talk with you about," he said. "Things that need to be discussed before you off and disappear with that girl for a week or so."

Sokka's eyes became suspicious as his father referred to Toph as 'that girl.' "Dad, she's just a fr-"

"I know, I know," he said. "That's not what I'm talking about. I told you before that I trust Katara to make responsible decisions and I trust you too. I wouldn't have recommended this trip if I didn't." He paused to let his son muddle over that for a bit. "This is actually more or less about your other girl."

Sokka's heart sank to his stomach and he looked away. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well," Sokka paused. "What about her?"

"That's what I want to know."

Sokka's head tipped back towards the small hole in the ceiling designed to let light in while his mind zinged off to another time and place. "I don't know," he said after a few moments.

"What don't you know?" the man pressed.

"I don't know. How she feels? We haven't seen each other in over three years. And we haven't talked in almost two."

Hakoda nodded knowingly. "How do _you_ feel?"

Sokka became defensive now. "Why is my relationship so important all of a sudden?" he demanded.

Hakoda waited a moment to let his son simmer to a point where the boy would actually pay attention to his response. "Because of that," he said. The man spoke in a calm and quiet voice. "Even after all this time, you still call it a relationship." Sokka's eye's quirked with inquiry at this statement. "Son," he continued, "You may not realize this, but you are something of a lady's man."

Sokka rolled his eyes at this. "_Dad._"

"Believe it or not it's true," he insisted. "When you're on the outside looking in it's a lot easier to see. There are some of the northern girls that are really impressed with you. A man of your age having such a warrior's heart and as much fighting experience as you've had is something that's going turns heads in many different ways … and for many different reasons."

Sokka turned away, but couldn't help but smirk with a sense of pride. It was obvious he knew what his father meant, but he couldn't help but try to explain it away. "That's just because I'm friends with 'The Avatar,' and what does this have to do with Suki?"He said.

Hakoda sighed as he came to the part where he had to make his point. "Sokka …. I'm not going to say 'it's time to move on' because only you can decide when that time is. But as a father I have to say that I'd like to see you get out and enjoy life while you can." Sokka showed discontentment on his face but he was still listening. "You're still a very young man, both in body and at heart. And, like you said earlier, you don't know how Suki feels anymore. Is there still potential there? Maybe … but you don't know."

Sokka sighed and he knew his dad had a point, several points. "Yeah, I know."

"Yeah."

Sokka sat in silence for a minute and Hakoda let him organize his thoughts.

"Hey, dad?"  
"Yeah?"  
"What does Toph have to do with this?"

Hakoda shrugged. "Not much, really," he stated honestly. "It just seemed a good way to grab your attention."

The boy rolled his eyes and chuckled through his nose.

"Well, I guess I'll leave you to your preparations now," He said, backing out of the crawlspace. "Don't forget to close her up when you're done."

"Okay, dad. I'll be out in a minute."

"Oh, and Sokka,"

"Hmm?"

"As a father I have to say that I'm not going to think _any_ girl is good enough for my boy, and no guy is good enough for my little girl. But on that same note ... If you _did_decide to start something with her on this trip," Hakoda started, pausing to make sure his boy was listening, "you could definitely do a lot worse."


	13. getting ready the journey

Sokka made a quick check of everything they had and, as expected, they'd need more food and a few other small supplies. So he went out shopping for the third time today.

Per request from his son, Hakoda stayed to keep an eye on Toph. He watched from the kitchen performing simple chores. Toph just lay there on the couch bending her knee with one foot on the couch, while the other leg hung off. To anyone who'd just happened upon her it would seem she was completely unmannered in the ways of feminine behavior, but Hakoda noticed her hands. They were folded regally in her lap.

Having encountered royalty upon more than one occasion the man had learned to notice the difference between simply clasping your hands and gently folding them in place. You could tell quite a bit about a person if you got a close enough look at their hands. She was trying to hide it but at heart he knew Toph would always be the heiress to the Bei Fong estate. For reasons unknown this troubled the man, seeing a woman in conflict with herself.

Then he saw as she reached into her sleeve and remove a bracelet he hadn't known she'd been wearing. As he watched her gently trace her fingers over the object he wondered of its significance. It was black, and looked to be made of metal, but it wasn't shiny or even ornate. Though he'd never seen that piece of jewelry before Hakoda couldn't help but think it seemed familiar to him. From what little he knew of the girl it still seemed hard to believe she'd wear _any_ form of jewelry.

"That's a pretty nice bracelet," he said as a matter of fact, taking seat in a nearby chair.

Toph, who hadn't known he'd been watching, sat up and clutched the item down to her side. The expression she wore made it seem almost as if she were going to say 'what bracelet?' but stopped herself. Her cheeks blushed slightly. "Yeah it is," she responded.

"Where'd you get it?"

"I- … well- …" she felt embarrassed by the answer, and almost wanted to lie about it. Only three people knew of its actual origin, and it was deeply personal to her. However, it was for that same reason that she couldn't lie, not about this. "It was a gift."

Hakoda nodded and smiled in understanding. It was a special gift. "So who's the lucky guy?" he asked jokingly, not _quite_ winking.

Toph's face now turned beat red and she turned away, trying to hide her embarrassment. Her mind stumbled over what words to form. How was she supposed to say 'I have the hots' for your son?'

He noticed the girls discomfort and decided to retract his question. "Sorry," he said, "it's really none of my business."

Toph felt her teeth start to clench. Figuring that if Hakoda really knew he'd probably think a little differently.

"But regardless of that," the man added. "Whoever he is, I think he's a pretty lucky guy." Hakoda watched the blush in her cheeks subside and her expression change to something like wonder. He could tell there was something she wanted to say, but for whatever reason couldn't bring herself to say it right now.

She heard the man's clothes rustle as he got up to leave. She felt slightly ashamed of not talking to him about this, but she just didn't know what to say. Hakoda turned to leave but heard the girl's voice behind him. "Chief Hakoda?"

"Hmm?"

"I uhhh … well … Thank you," she finally said, "for everything."

He smiled at this, for some reason seeing a girl he could have considered a daughter, if only for a moment. "You're welcome, Toph.


	14. embarrassing moments

The rest of Toph's day went by in something of a blurry haze of meaningless non-events. Sokka returned with the rest of supplies, extra food and some safety gear, just in time for dinner. Neither of the men seemed very interested in talking, and Toph was a little too out of it to try and change that. The thought of what she and Sokka could possibly be doing tomorrow and the next few days just loomed over her like a hawk.

Before she knew it she was back in bed, this time without her boots. She was also wearing some of Katara's nightclothes, supplied by Sokka's snooping. They were a little too big but that made them feel more comfortable for her. It wasn't until she was lying in bed that Toph realized how stressful the day had been on her tired body. The soft cushion beneath her seemed to envelop her and soak up all the strain she'd been carrying internally. After a few slow cleansing breaths Toph drifted off into a dreamless unconsciousness.

The first thing Toph noticed when she woke up was that her nose was ice cold, which contrasted greatly with her toasty warm body. She hated having her nose that cold, it felt weird and it took forever to warm back up. Feeling lazy, she rolled over, wanting to bury it into her pillow. Instead she felt her body roll half way over the nothingness known as the edge of the bed.

There was just enough of her body still on the bed that Toph had enough time to grab hold of the covers and prevent her fall … if they had been tucked in. With the human sound of bewilderment followed instantly by a physical thud of impact Toph found herself, once again, on the floor of the guest bedroom.

Toph was still too tired to do anything but groan with frustration. Being face down on the floor was turning into a very nasty habit and it was going to have to stop. _'At least this time I'm not stuck'_ she thought, trying to console herself. She decided to just lay there a minute and warm her nose by pressing it with both hands.

Then there was a knock followed by the sound of a door opening. "You okay in here?" It was Sokka.

Toph buried her face down and moaned with embarrassment. _'Why? … WHY, in spirit's name did he have to hear that?!'_ she complained.

Sokka mistook the moan for one of discomfort and rushed over to the piled of blankets to help his friend up. Reaching around and under he felt Toph's body and started to pick her up, something didn't quite feel right but that registered a little too late.

Toph's embarrassment instantly turned to rage as the boy's hands grabbed the somewhat larger amounts of _flesh_ around her torso. He'd gotten her off the ground just enough to get a leg under herself and she used that to charge forward, slamming the heel of both palms into his guts.

Sokka's body flew back and barreled against the door, slamming it shut. His figure curled up and cowered there on the floor. "I'm sorry, I-"

"GET OUT!"

Without even realizing he'd moved Sokka was in the hall hearing Toph's screaming "AND STAY OUT." As impossible as it sounded the only explanation he could think of was that he'd been so afraid that he melted through the door.


End file.
